Grucy - the dates
by Mentallyconfusedidiot
Summary: A growing collection of drabbles focusing on the 147 dates.
1. Chapter 1

**(authors note: I uploaded this drabble to tumblr, but also decided to put it up here for your enjoyment. )**

**Date nr. 6 - the kiss **

Gru and Lucy had just been on another successful date, this being their 6th one.

Afterwards they had to take the bus to get home, Lucy's car being on repair and Gru's own had been hijacked by the minions. Apparently they were heading to an ice cream festival in sacramento. They told him all this by phone, and from what he could make of the unmistakable giggles in the background they'd also brought the girls with them. Brilliant. At first he'd been angry about not being notified about this beforehand, but since the girls really were in no danger he just sighed and told them that if something happened to his daughters there was a brand new obliviating gun that he was very keen to try out.

It was raining when they got to the bus stop, but luckily Lucy had brought her red umbrella. Since Gru was taller he was the one holding it up to shield them both, but he noticed that Lucy was shivering a little from the cold. He frowned at that.

"Hould this please." he said, motioning for the umbrella. Lucy grabbed it, blinking in surprise as Gru removed his black coat.

"What are you-" she asked curiously, but was stopped when Gru carefully secured the coat around her shoulders, his large hands lingering on her arms –smoothing down imaginary wrinkles. She observed him with wide eyes, blushing as she stared at his face.

"You looked a little cold, ez it alright?" he asked, eyebrows shooting upwards and eyes taking her in nervously. She smiled at him reassuringly and nodded.

"Yeah it is, thanks Gru. But won't you be cold?" she asked, looking at him with concern.

He looked momentarily surprised, then he chuckled and shook his head.

"Oh not at all, I'm quite used to the cold. " he said jovially, once again holding up the umbrella. Lucy didn't know wheter to feel comforted or sad about that statement, perhaps a mix of both.

"Oh, I-well- okay then." she said, casting her eyes up at the bus time table, another 15 minutes left for the bus to arrive. Gru started frowning again, eyes cast at the wet pavement.

"Lucy?" her head snapped back to look at him, and she blinked away some water from her eyelashes.

"Yes Gru?" she asked, and she could tell that he was upset about something.

"Why did you decide to go out with me? " He asked, looking at her with a very somber expression on his face. For a moment the only sound was the pelting rain hitting their umbrella as Lucy stared back at him. Then she ducked her head bashfully and shuffled her feet.

"Well, because I really like you silly! I even liked you before I met you, you know? Even if it was kind of taboo being apart of the anti-villain league and all, I used to listen to this radio show called "villain world". They mentioned you there quite a lot, and the schemes you came up with. I think you're the only criminal in the world to willingly return what you stole, by the way. They often rediculed you, for being a bit old fashioned and crazy – but I didn't think that. I never did. When you stole something, you didn't just go in there and steal it. You tricked security guards with laxative root beer and replaced the stolen item with breathe mints. If that's not creative I don't know what is."

She took a moment to giggle at the memory, but keeping her eyes on the pavement, not daring to look up just yet, cheeks burning. She arranged the coat mure snugly around her shoulders before she continued.

"None of the other villains were quite like that, to be able to have fun with it like you did. I remember thinking that it must be quite fun working for you, planning stuff like that. " she smiled and looked up into the rainy sky as if the sun was shining instead. Her hair was getting wetter and wetter by the minute, but she didn't notice.

" I guess it's weird for a miss goody-two shoes like me to say those things? It's still true though. " She darted a glance towards Gru and then blushed some more and started to stutter with her words and wringing her hands.

"I mean, if you meet someone you've admired for years and he's all sweet and tall and ridicoulsly good looking and you see his face everywhere on flight attendants and babies of course you say yes when he asks you to go –" the sentence was abruptly cut off.

The red umbrella fell to the ground soundlessly, and then Gru gripped both of her upper arms firmly before kissing her breathless. It wasn't like the earlier kisses he'd given her, which had been tender and shy. This one reminded her of that vulcano they escaped, for suddenly there was so much heat between them and she couldn't remember being cold ever, at all. There was no hesitation, no holding back this time from either of them . It probably looked like they were tearing each other apart, but neither cared about that at all. Both of Gru's hands were cradling her head possessivly and this time Lucy shivered for an entirely different reason.

After awhile though, Lucy became aware of a noise somewhere past the feeling of Gru's teeth grazing her throat and his hands roaming beneath the borrowed coat.

"A-hem, hem." someone coughed pretentiously. Lucy blinked slowly, as if coming out of a daze. Gru turned slowly towards the noise with a deadly glare, his mouth red from lucy's lipstick. It made him look slightly less intimidating, but only slightly.

The bus driver gave them a bored look.

"Are you coming or aren't you?" he asked, as if he could care less which.

After a dumbfounded scramble for bus fare, they got in quietly and sat down, warm hands absently entwined. Lucy's hair was a rat's nest and slightly curly at the ends from being wet. Gru's shirt was was practically plastered to his skin and his shoes felt like they'd been dipped into a swimming pool. But they were both wearing ridiculous grins on their faces.

That was the first date that they didn't go seperate ways at the end of it.


	2. Chapter 2

**(Author's note: if you're wondering why there's still some awkward tension between them, it's because they haven't gone as far as sex just yet. Also I thought it would be fun to see these two together as partners in crime, and that though Gru may be reformed and not full time villain anymore - there's a part of him that's still just a little bit wicked.)**

**Date nr. 10 - The heist**

It was around 2 am when Lucy jerked awake in her bed upon hearing a strange noise. Half asleep, she sat up and tried to find the source, forgetting that she was wearing an eyemask and for a scary moment thought she'd gone blind. She touched her face and felt the cloth over her eyes and sighed in relief before quickly pulling it over her head. Blinking owlishly in the dark, she heard the noise again.

**Tap tap tap**

**Tap tap tap**

She turned her head towards the window and jumped a little when she saw that someone was perching right on the other side like some cat burglar. She squinted, and then saw who it was. She threw back the covers and quickly moved to open it.

"Gru?!" she looked him over in surprise. Apart from the black gloves covering his hands, he looked the same as usual. Except, there was a strange twinkle in his eyes.

"In ze flesh." he said and smiled, tapping a few fingertips on his knee.

"Why didn't you use the front door?" she asked, noting with amusement how Grus' eyes momentarily got stuck looking at her breasts before discreetly clearing his throat and looked up into her eyes. She wasn't naked, but the silk neglige she was wearing left little to the imagination. In answer to her question, he shrugged one shoulder and said with a shudder:

"The cactus in the hallway frightens me."

"Oh."

And with that he casually climbed in through the open window. She darted out her head and looked down, eyes widening in confusion, trying to figure out how he'd made the climb on a bare wall without pipes or other windows.

"How did you even get up here? I don't see any marks from hackpicks or climber spikes." While Lucy had been busy looking outside, Gru had moved over to Pepé, watching his sleeping form with morbid fascination. At her question however, he turned his head and smirked in a way that reminded her of his former villain status.

"Oh, I didn't climb." he said, a touch enigmatically. Lucy moved away from the window, recognizing that sneaky tone in his voice and she narrowed her eyes at him and smirked.

"Gru, what's going on? Is this a midnight randevouz? It is isn't it? Or do they call them booty calls these days…." she looked away with dreamy eyes and pondered that for a moment while Gru suddenly had a mysterious coughing fit, his cheeks a blossoming red. After he recovered somewhat, he turned towards her dramatically and explained.

"No, no but you are right – I do have something in mind. " He said and held up a black robber's mask. She stared at it, then up at him. finally she shrugged.

"Hm, well I hadn't pegged you as a fetishist." She said with ease, as if she'd actually go along with something like that if he suggested it. Gru's eye twitched and his villanous demeanor crumbled as he started having a mini panic attack of embarrasement.

"N-no, ehehe that's not – NO! No bedroom game, promise. This is something different." he said and held out the mask to her again, and she took it from his hand. Then he slowly regained his confidence as he approached her with a glimmer in his eyes, drumming his fingertips together.

"I remembered what you said, about my schemes." he said.

"Yeah, what about it?" she asked. His hands stopped drumming together.

"You said something about wanting to be apart of that… no?" Lucy's eyes started glowing with excitement. She nodded eagerly.

"Yes. " she said almost a little breathlessly.

"Well, I need someone to accompany me on a little heist." he whispered with a wicked twist to his voice, hunching his shoulders. Then abruptly he theatrically pointed skywards and shaped his other hand like a shaking claw.

"It will be dangerous, and one of us may not even get out of it alive." he exclaimed with much drama. But then he giggled and hunched over once more. " But it's also going to be a lot of fun. And I was wondering, well- I mean…." he started shuffling his feet, suddenly looking very hesitant and shy about what he was going to say.

"Yes?"

"…If you wanted to come along with me?" he asked her, eyes hopeful. Lucy started jumping excitedly, looking incredibly eager.

"I'm in, oh I'm in! Oh, oh, oh what will I get to do? We're not going to steal anything are we? Oh I hope we're not going to steal anything, that would be bad." she went from superexcited to terribly nervous in the span of three seconds, wringing her hands nervously. But Gru waved his hands reassuringly and shook his head.

"It's not really that type of heist, do not worry."

"Does this mean….that I get to be your sidekick?" she asked him curiously. Gru shook his head, giving her a shy sideway glance.

"More like…partner." he said.

Lucy's face broke out into that smile that could light up an apartment block if she wanted to. And not for the first time, it gave Gru a funny feeling in his chest - unexpected and warm.

"Partner." She said and nodded in agreement. Upon feeling the night chill across her shoulders, she looked down and realized her state of undress. And by doing so, Gru noticed it as well. Rather than feeling embarrassed, Lucy only pointed a finger to his face while her feet started jogging towards her closet.

"Oh…just give me a minute!" Gru seemed to have lost the ability to speak, so he only nodded while he remained standing by the window – pointedly looking away. He was a gentleman after all. She emerged a few minutes later, dressed in black tights and an equally black hoodie – there weren't many glamouros items in her closet with that color (if you didn't count underwear). she was also wearing a grey thermal cozy hat with long knitted tasslers on the sides.

To skip breaking their necks, they went out the front door this time. Gru's massive car stood waiting outside and they jumped in and drove away.

"So , what's the first stop then partner?" Lucy asked before they even had a chance to close the doors. Gru flexed his fingers around the steering wheel before answering as casual as anything, grinning.

"Oh ,the museum."

As stealthily as one could with a car like that, they creeped up the empty streets and parked about a block away. They approached the old fashioned building from the loading area at the back, and stood huddled for a moment in a few nearby bushes – watching out for patroling security guards. Currently, there was only one standing over at the staff entrance.

"So how are we going to break in? I don't think my methods will apply here. " Lucy whispered.

"Well, we won't be using laser spray or moose tranquilizers." he mumbled , handing her a mechanized kitten out of his coat. She stared at it. It looked real, except for the creepy, dead eyes.

"What does it do!?" she whispered, poking it cautiously.

"Throw it over there and you'll see." he wispered back with glee, that wickedness creeping back into his voice. She shrugged and did as he instructed, aiming close enough to the patroling nightguard. Then they both hunched down and waited.

The mechanized kitten started walking stiffly towards the guard, meowing sweetly. The guard turned his head at the sound and looked down. He crouched down in front of it and moved his hand to pet it. He started cooing and babytalking, oblivious to his fate.

"Awwww, look at that- why aren't you as sweet as a - " the kittens mouth abruptly opened wide like a pez dispenser to reveal gleaming razorblade teeth. It's eyes started to glow red and a strange offbeat alarmclock noise came out of it. The guard only had time to say " well that's just not right." before it pounced on his pant legs, sinking in it's teeth wherever it could like a rabid squirrel. The guard jumped and squealed in pain, then he started jumping away with the cat still on his leg – desperatly trying to shake it off. It was quite a funny sight.

Lucy giggled behind the hand over her mouth, she was an AV league agent – this was not suppose to be that funny.

But it was.

"Well that was effective." she said after her laughter has subsided.

"It was wasn't it?" Gru agreed, as he practically danced on his feet with giddy excitement. He stepped out of the bushes and moved towards the locked door, Lucy following closely behind. After cracking the security code to the door, they both slipped inside undetected.

"So why are we here?" Lucy whispered, looking around the large entrance area in the dark.

"I have a few….alterations to make." Gru said,hands folded behind his back and his eyes searching for something in the distance. Then suddenly they widened and he smiled.

"Ah, there it is!" he said, and started walking in the direction of the Villains gallery. It was a large room filled with pictures and accompanying biographs of past and present super-villains. Only big shots who had a small or large part in affecting history ended up here, and to many evil doers it was a great honor and an achievement – kind of like winning an oscar. Gru frowned deeply as he stopped in front of a large painting that looked rather familiar. Lucy came to stand beside him, regarding it with a tilt of her head.

"Oh yeah, I remember that guy – he was the one who stole that pyramid last year." she said. It was a rather obnoxious painting as well, which despicted Victor standing in front of his space age mansion – smiling seductivly at the viewer. Lucy started frowning as well, just looking at him gave her a bad taste in her mouth.

"He was also the man who kidnapped my girls." he said, tone of voice low and gravely.

"So,what do you wanna do?" she asked, eyes still on the picture. Gru opened his coat and took out a case of paint and a few brushes, grinning as he did so.

After about half an hour they stepped back and regarded their finished work, smiling with pride. They'd painted over victors orange overall, and now he was wearing a maid's outfit with matching high heels. They'd replaced the white mansion in the background with a barn, and painted various farm animals standing around his feet. They'd also painted make up on his face and given him a ridiculous looking wart right on his nose.

"Hmmm, yeah it looks way more appropriate now don't you think?" Lucy asked him, nudging his shoulder.

Gru took out a black marker pencil , eyeing victors face.

"Just one more thing….ah, perfect." he said, stepping back to regard it. Now Victor was also toothless, except for his two front teeth. As they finished their glorious "alteration", they packed up the paint and on their way out, passed by an art exhibit that made Lucy pause.

**WOMEN AND THEIR RIGHTLY GIVEN FATE**

**By Jonathan Gabb**

What followed was a number of controversial statues that were suppose to represent "how weak" women were and that their only place was to kneel before men and to stay in the kitchen.

She'd heard the news about this exhibit, and how the museum was considering removing it completly because of the reactions of the public, but problematically enough the "artist" had signed a contract to keep them there for at least 4 more years. The bastard.

She tightened her hands into fists at her side as she glared at them with all the poison she possessed until she felt Gru poking her shoulder, clearing his throat. She turned her head and saw a massive blow torch in his hands.

"Would you do the honors?" He asked, handing it out to her.

"More than gladly." she said, taking the torch from his hands and aiming it at the offending statues. Gru stepped a few feet back.

As the fire blazed away, Gru found himself slowly shifting from watching the glorious devestation but instead the woman causing it. She had removed the grey knitted hat, and her red hair was whipping around her face from the strong blast of the torch – eyes alight with a rare malicious glee. Gru had to admit to himself that, if she had ever chosen it – she would have made quite the formidable villain. And in that other part of his mind that still lingered on devious plots and world domination, he considered designing a line of weapons with just her in mind.

For just in cases and what if's of course.

Only after every statue had been reduced to ash, did Lucy finally lower the torch – panting as she did so. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked quite satisfied with her work.

"Phew! Well, that was fun!" she said joyously, slinging the weapon over her shoulder.

Their next stop in town, Gru explained – was a "storage".

"Last teim I was caught, the police confiscated most of my old toys. It's time I retrieved them."

"I thought you never got caught?" she asked, surprised.

" I wasn't so much per se, I got pulled over for speeding and they opened my trunk." He admitted, embarrased.

"Oh."

It was harder to break into the police custom HQ, but not impossible. After watching the entrance and counting the present officers there – about 10 of them, lucy turned to gru and whispered "We should check out the roof." He nodded, taking her hand and leading them both to a more secluded side of the building. However, there were no ladders or climbable surfaces on either of the walls, and Lucy hummed in thought.

"Well I guess there has to be some emergency exit we can enter through." she said quietly, looking up towards the roof. But Gru was already ahead of her, pulling out his grappling gun.

"That won't be necessary." Gru said, twiddling it around in his hand

Luckily, there were large ceiling windows right on top of the room where Gru's gadgets were kept. They silently opened one of the windows and jumped down into the darkness.

Once inside, they found the section for Gru's old weapons easily enough, but it turned out that there were also gadgets from other criminals being kept in the same room, and Lucy's eyes went wide as saucers as she approached a handgun which was shaped like a large lobster. She picked it up reverently, turning it around in her hand.

"Gru look at this! It's one of Professor Platypus famous pinching guns! I remember watching him on the news when I was just a little kid!" Gru was just about to go over and geek out with her, when he heard a strange beeping sound coming from below and his face became very pale.

"Oh-oh." he muttered. Lucy's head snapped up to look at him.

"What do you mean Oh -oh?" she asked warily.

"The floor, it's touch sensetive."

"Meaning…" Gru warily walked a few step towards her, voice just a whisper.

"It'll immidiatly set of the alarm in 5 seconds unless…"

He didn't have time to finish the sentence because abruptly, lights started flashing from the ceiling and an alarm started sounding off. They heard cops running on the other side towards the door. They didn't have time to escape before three armed men entered the room, pointing guns at their heads.

"Freeze! Nobody move!" At first they both did, but then Lucy thought quickly, and smiled when she saw a pair of green boxers lying right next to her left hand. She quickly picked them up by the waist band.

"Sorry guys, but you leave me no choise ." she said, throwing them into their faces. As it hit them, it exuded a green vapor of smoke. The officers started holding their noses, one of them even fainting at the smell. Plantman's gimmick had been exploding boxers, but another lesser known weapon of his had been his own unwashed boxers.

"Whoa, he must have worn those for awhile. " Lucy murmered with a strange awe in her voice, holding her own nose. Gru quickly grabbed her hand and they quickly made it out the door. They took all of grus gadgets with them and loaded them into a conveniantly available shopping cart, pushing it in front of them as they ran for the street they left the car.

"How did you know about plantman's underpants?" Gru asked her, a bit impressed.

"I'm a villain geek remember? Besides, it's my business to know these things." she said, flashing a positively impish smirk at him which made his heart skip a beat or two.

But as they ran towards the alley they had left their car, two police officers were there already waiting.

"Not so fast you two, come walk away quietly now or suffer the consequences. But first, hand over the stolen goods." one of them said, gesturing towards the shopping cart. Lucy sighed loudly and seemingly defeated, approaching the officers with her hands behind her back.

"Oh, I guess it's time to give up. What chances have I against two well abled officers such as yourselfs? Just cuff me boys, I can already smell the welcoming mildewy stench of prison. " she said dramatically, moving to put her arms in defeat in front of her. One of the officers approached her with a set of cuffs in his hand, grinning.

"I'll have to search you for additional weapons of course." he said, moving to lock her up. But from seemingly out of nowhere, Lucy pulled out the lobster gun in her hands, her smile so wicked it made Gru a little weak in the knees.

"Oh officer, I think I'll pinch you before you pinch me." she pulled the trigger, and the giant claw at the front of the gun latched onto a rather sensetive part of the man's body and he opened his mouth in a silent scream before keeling over to the ground in agony. Gru and Lucy both looked over at the officer still standing, not realizing how threatening they looked together, clad in black and with equal matching glares on their faces.

The officer shakily dropped his gun and ran for the hills.

But as they ran to the car and filled it up with his gadgets , there was yet another problem.

Gru's eyes practically boggled as he looked at the fuel meter, it flashed empty. He groaned loudly and his head fell forward on the steering wheel – hitting it could not be happening.

"Oh, I'm going to kill those minions…" he moaned.

"So what do we do now? " Lucy asked. Then gru stopped hitting himself as he had another idea.

Gru's mother was fast asleep in her home, the tv in her bedroom still on playing an excerise program for the elderly with richard simmons. A little drool dripped out of the side of her mouth as she snored loudly. The phone at her bedside started ringing, and groggily she moved to pick it up, grumbling under her breath as she did.

"Whazzat…Gru!?" she wheezed.

"Mom, I need to borrow your car!" Gru answered, pronouncing his words slowly.

"My car?"she asked, sounding confused.

"Yes, right now would be good!" Gru said with a bit more urgency, gritting his teeth. But his mother only laughed in response.

"Oh don't be silly boy, you know you can't drive a stick." before he had time to argue with her further, Lucy took the phone from him.

"But I can m'am!" she said, determination in her voice.

"Who is this? Are you one of his minions?"

"I'm his girlfriend M'am."

"**YOU'RE HIS WHAT!?"**

Gru's mother was so shocked at the statement, she agreed readily . 2 minutes later, they were just getting into her car with Lucy in the driver's seat – eyes narrowed on the road ahead of her. Gru's mom was chatting aimably with her while Gru wished the earth would open up and swallow him whole, sulking in the passanger seat like a teenager.

"Oh you're such a lovely little number! I'm so happy Gru finally found someone who would settle with him. You must let me invite you for tea sometime dear, I have so many darling photos to show you!" Lucy laughed and nodded, saluting her.

"Absolutly m'am, but right now we've got to go!" then she rolled up the window and they sped off into the night.

The'd managed to pack all of gru's gadget in the backseat and some of them strapped to the roof. It was a ridiculously tiny car, and one of Gru's legs had to be folded halftway out of the window. The rearview mirror was heavy with car smell trees strung to it, and the flashlights were decorated with large fake lashes.

They drove past red lights, Lucy holding down the honker – which was an extremely strangled version of the french national anthem. She angled the rearview mirror and noticed that three squad cars were close in persuit.

"Gru!" she yelled over the noise of the engine.

"Don't worry, I'm on it!" he yelled back, rummaging around for something in the backseat. He picked up a complicated looking gun and leaned out a little of the passanger window, angling it at the approaching cars and fired.

"Aha!….oh." Instead of doing what he thought it was going to do, it only fired out winning lottery tickets. A few homeless people by the side of the road hooted at him with joy as the car swished by, stooping down to collect the tickets happily. Gru groaned like he was in intense pain and smacked a hand to his forehead repeatedly.

"Why, out of all the weapons I could think of did I have to make-"

"Gru!" Lucy reminded him, turning the car abruptly to the left in an attempt to shake them off.

He quickly got back inside and rummaged some more. After a short moment he emerged again, more confident as he cackled with mirth.

But instead of freezing the cars like he thought, this gun started shooting out M'Ms. But he shrugged, figuring it had to do. And surprisingly, it was rather effective. Due to the incredible speed the m'ms were flying out at, when they hit a target it was like being hit by a paintball gun. He aimed at the nearest cop's face, and it hit him square on the forehead a couple of times – knocking the man's head around. But the man only shook himself and then growled angerly. Gru flinched, and returned back into the car to look for something better.

"freeze gun, freeze gun – WHERE IS THE FREEZE GUN?" he yelled in frustration, looking around frantically – at the same time cursing himself for designing most of his guns to look alike.

"I think, at the bottom of the pile?" Lucy said with a sheepish grin, shrugging innocently.

Then Lucy touched her earring and she seemed to remember something. She turned to Gru and quickly handed him her pearl earrings.

"My earrings!" she yelled. He leaned a little closer to her, not hearing at first what she said.

"What?" he asked loudly.

"My earrings, throw them – now!" Gru took them from her hand, staring at them for a second – wondering what they would do. Then he leaned out once more and threw them in front of the incoming car and waited to see what would happen. Nothing did for a second , but then a magnificent bubbly pink cloud emerged from out of nowhere, and brightly colored fireworks shot up into the sky all around them. It made the police cars persuing them loose sight of the road ahead, and soon they had to stop and give up.

It was around 6 am and the sun was about to come up.

They'd parked the car close to the harbor, and were currently sitting side by side at the edge of one of the small docks that littered the town's edge. Gru was sitting with his legs sprawled out, glad to finally be able to do after sitting in his mothers cramped car for so long. He was currenly lying with his head in her lap, head turned to watch the ocean. Lucy had removed her shoes and was dangling her legs over the edge, her toes splashing the surface of the water. They'd bought some breakfast with them, hungry after a long night of adventure. Lucy's hair was a wild mess, but her face was practically glowing, already having catagorized this night as one of the best in her life .

"Gru?" she asked.

"Hm?" he mumbled, head still turned towards the sunrise.

"This has been a date, right?" she asked him playfully, smiling. He turned his head in her lap and looked at her with dark, piercing eyes. He smiled.

"Yes, so I believe."

"Then there is one thing we forgot to do!" she exclaimed, as if she just remembered.

"What's that?" Gru asked , blinking his eyes in confusion. And with that, she simply leaned down and kissed him softly on the mouth, feeling his hand creeping up to cup her neck and the other slowly fisting itself at the back of her sweater.


	3. Intermission - neighbor talk

Intermission - neighbor talk

**_(I wrote this on the side while writing the next date, as I was thinking of how the neighborhood would react to Gru dating someone, also to that family in general. In my mind, there are a lot of eldery ladies living around them with nothing much to do all day except gossip amongst each other.)_**

It was a overbearingly hot june day, and Miss Parsons was giving her french poodle Mr. Socrates a bath out on the lawn when the phone rang. It was one of her friends from the bridge club, old Mrs. Merriweather.

"Oh afternoon Mrs. Merriweather!" she answered, while dunking another canteen of water over the drenched poodles head.

"Afternoon Parsons, gosh golly what a hot day it is!" the old woman said, fanning her face.

"A hot day indeed Merryweather, I've had to soak my feet in cold water six times only this morning. Six times!"

"Well I put my head in the freezer." she said, as if it was some kind of contest.

"Did it work?" parsons asked curiously, while mr. Socrates quietly tried to make his escape.

"No, and my husband came in and told me I looked like a loony and to make his breakfast. Men." Parsons nodded, agreeing with her wholeheartedly.

"Men indeed Mrs Merriweather! Speaking of which, guess who I saw at the bake sale two days ago?" she asked, while plunking the poodle back in the tub, a few desperate bubbles escaping to the surface.

"Why who did you see Parsons?!" merriweather asked with urgency, thirsty for gossip like a bat out for blood.

"That man who always dresses in black and scowls so much, Mr. Gru. " parsons answered, voice hushed - as if he could be walking by any minute.

"Really? But what was he doing there at the bake sale?" Merriweather asked.

"Assisting his children, and there was also some woman there with him."

"Oh that woman, yes I think I've seen her before. Ginger hair, quite tall – she comes to his house every Thursday in that blue buggy of hers."

"Every Thursday? But Merryweather, I've seen that car parked in front of his house since last Tuesday." parsons exclaimed, thinking of the implications.

"Indeed!?" the old lady asked, in a scandalized tone of voice.

"Indeed Mrs. Merriweather." Parsons said gravely.

A shocked and outraged silence followed for a few seconds, as both of them shook their heads at the very thought.

"Well, I hope they have thick walls in that house. Think of the children!" Merryweather proclaimed, clutching her pearl necklace.

"They surely do not, for all the strange noises I keep hearing from there both day and night." parsons said, emptying a bottle of conditioner over her poodles head.

"Strange noises, what kind of strange noises?"

" There's alarms going off and on, high pitched laughter at odd hours of the day and one time I was sure I heard an explosion." Parsons continued in that hushed, secretive voice.

"An explosion?! " Merriweather yelled into the reciever. "Maybe he had turned on the volume of his television too loud?" she asked.

"With the ground shaking as if there had been an earthquake? Oh no, it was an explosion all right." Parsons nodded.

"You know, I heard that the fire brigade stopped coming there after the 16th alarm in only two weeks time."

"And I heard that they've never come there at all! They're too frightened."

" I heard that the paper boy got chased of the property by that devil dog of his, and that he swallowed half of his bike!"

"Half of his bike? Surely you must be overexaggerating. Well, what more do you know about this new woman of his then? She seems like a gold digger if you ask me."

" I wouldn't be so sure of that, you didn't see the looks they were exchanging last time I saw them. And besides, I heard from Bernards wife – they live right next door, that she saw them kissing once in the backyard. She said she blushed at the mere sight of it, it was so scandalous. "

"Well scandalous is one thing, but what about feelings? Does he seem to be in love with this woman? Does she love him? That's the question. "

"I think it's too soon to tell in any case, I mean – we won't know anything until he pops the question."

"You think he'll actually marry this woman?" Merryweather asked doubtfully. Socrates shook out her wooly fur with much vigor and seeing her mistress busy on the phone – quietly sneaked out of the tub and around the rosebush fence to the other side.

"I may not know Mr. Gru personally, but I do know this – a man who looks at a woman the way he looks at her can only mean a lifetime of unrequited love or a burning passion to last until both of them are in matching coffins." Parsons said, hugging a rose to her chest and sighing happily. Merriweather was not impressed.

"Let's not be so dramatic. I'll talk to you later darling, ta ta!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Date nr. 4**

**"the dinner"**

Lucy's apartment was a small, one bedroom flat in a quieter, older part of town. She had been able to move in on a complete whim since the previous owners had been very superstitious and wholly believed that the apartment was haunted. This also meant that the rent was slightly cut to avoid a bad reputation, which gave Lucy another reason to move in. The walls inside had been dusty blue and pale gray before she moved in, but now they were light peach, yellow and pink – an odd combination. But as the early afternoon sun shone in through the living room area, it gave the place a much needed cheerfulness. Despite the choise of colors, it did not hide the gothic design of the wood panels underneath that lined the walls from top to bottom. The original owner had been somewhat of an eccentric, and it was the only flat in the house which had it's own trap door in the walk in closet. Not that Lucy had much use of it – yet.

The small balcony which was connected to the bedroom was overflowing with potted flowers and hanging vines, and it was not unusual to find a snoozing Pepe among the petunias and purple orchids. Pepe was a large multicolored macaw with a slight indigestion problem (much to the chagrin of the neighbors below) which Lucy had rescued from animal poachers in south america five years ago. He had been her constant companion since, and was unusually quiet for a bird of his kind,

leaving much of the talking to his mistress while he sat and listened. Being an AVL agent, it meant a lot of solo work and not much time for socializing – so it was nice to come home at the end of the day to someone she could share her secrets and thoughts with without any judgment. He was just about to drift off into a light snooze that afternoon when he was snapped awake by running steps and a familiar voice.

"Okay little man, tell me what you think – the pink one or this green one?" she asked him, standing there wrapped up in a white towel and holding up two different dresses. He tiled his head to the side as he regarded her choices, and slowly he pointed a large black claw to the one in pink. She looked at it up and down, considering.

"This one huh? " she said, then began nodding. "Well okay then, but do you think I should wear my hair up? Oh I should wear it up right?" she asked him. He recognized this nervous behavior in his orange feathered, humanbird friend. It meant that she was about to meet a potential mate, one she was particularly smitten with. He had heard nothing but "Gru this" and "Gru that" for the last few weeks, and if her hurried demeanor was any indication – he was coming over soon. It didn't bother him so much, but he knew that the following hours would be anything but peace and quiet – which was something that irked his feathers. Finally in answer to her question he shook his head, and lowered it slightly. Having learned to interpret squawks and screeches for five years, Lucy was fluent in parrot.

"Wear it down? But he's never seen it down before – well, not yet anyway. Are you sure?" she asked, wringing her hands. Pepe nodded, before dusting off his wings and taking his leave from the balcony and flying down to the neighbors below. He could nap there until the whole courting ritual of his mistress was over. Besides – he absolutely loved riling up the prim and proper accountant who lived there with the small stinking piles he left behind.

Lucy finished dressing and glanced at the clock in the kitchen – he was going to be here in 15 minutes! She silently thanked herself that she'd cleaned up the place the day before, or otherwise there would still be discarded take out boxes littering the kitchen sink and dirty dishes stacked in random places (much to her own embarrassment she'd even found some underneath the couch). She was at once grateful that she'd decided to be honest when she told Gru that she was not exactly a genius in the kitchen. She hadn't yet known him for very long, so she was surprised when he'd suggested without a hint of hesitation or insecurity that he'd be more than willing to cook for her.

"A chef too!? Well, if you're going to be making dinner the least I can do is buy you breakfast!" she'd said, not thinking about what she was implying at first. But as she saw the look on Gru's face, she realized her blunder and started blushing furiously. "Oh no, I mean – not breakfast as in you know…"breakfast". Not that I'm not tempted – or thought about it a couple of times. Did I say a couple of times? Whew, ehm – what I'm saying is that I'd be willing to buy you….brunch?" she'd stumbled on, cringing at her herself. Another thing that had surprised her then was the barely concealed and affectionate grin he'd given her, and a sort of wolfish look in his dark eyes that had made the hair at the nape of her neck stand on end.

And she'd promised her mother to never get involved with a bad boy – _well_, she thought, _that promise has certainly been all but incinerated._

She went by the mirror and touched the ends of her short hair, not used to letting it hang loose. She temporarily thought of putting it up despite Pepe's advice, but decided against it. In a way, this hairstyle reminded her of her younger childhood years – a time when she'd truly embodied her surname. When most other little girls went to school wearing fine sundresses and hair neatly combed – Lucy was more of a tomboy, and wore navy dungarees with patched knees and oversized t-shirts. She remembered all those poor middle school teachers, yelling out her name with either terror or thinly concealed rage.

"**WILDE!** Come down from the rooftop this instant, you are not a bird!"

"Wilde, we do not collect reptilian creatures in our desks – put those things outside immediately!"

Or her personal favorite:

"Miss Wilde, when you filled in the paper for future life skills – you should have known that "automobile hijacking" is not an acceptable answer!"

She wasn't exactly a devil child or anything, but certainly the one who always got into mischief. Although, her most ardent wish at the time was that one day grow up to become a super villain – but a villain who did kind things as well, like Robin hood. It wasn't until late high school that she realized that the spy business was a way of making that dream come true, for the most part anyway.

She glanced up at the clock once more and almost hiccupped with chock when she noticed what time it was. She really had to stop daydreaming so much, it was a time consuming business that often derailed into tardiness. She suddenly remembered the newly washed panties she'd hung up to dry over the bathtub and practically threw herself into the bathroom to quickly hide them someplace convenient. Just as she had put away the last of them (finally there was a use for that blasted trap door) she heard the door buzz and almost jumped a mile and squeaked out loud.

Merlin's whiskers, he was here!

As she ran past the kitchen, she gave it a quick once over to be sure that nothing unsavory could be found. Satisfied to find nothing of the sort, continued to the front door and swiftly opened it. Strangely enough, when she laid eyes on him all sense of nervousness seemed to disappear. He seemed to have been regarding the small painting hanging in the hallway before she opened the door, for he had that unsatisfied look of scrutiny on his face. But as she appeared in the doorway and his head turned towards her, she felt that recently discovered spark rush between them and then there was no doubt that he was anything but unsatisfied to see her. She didn't quite know for how long they stood there before Gru suddenly broke the silence by clearing his throat and swiftly handing her a bouquet of flowers he must have hidden behind his back. She snapped out of the staring contest and slowly smiled as she accepted the flowers, daises were her favorite. As she breathed them in and was about to say thank you, Gru seemed to have absorbed something from her for suddenly he was the nervous one.

"They're uhm, I just thought – I didn't know if you liked….flowers but I saw them and-" something about the combination of him, the flowers and just – it all made her almost giddy with excitement for some reason. Suddenly she couldn't hardly wait to get this date started!

"Oh I love them Gru!" she burst out, almost making him jump with surprise. " But where are my manners – come in, come in, come in!" she exclaimed, taking one his his hands and fairly dragging him inside like a ragdoll before shutting the door. When they both were inside, she took the flowers into the kitchen to put them in a vase, all the while talking to him over her shoulder. Gru looked a little blindsided by all the brightly colored walls, himself in his usual black and grey ensamble. She'd noticed the brown paper bag he was holding and gestured to the counter beside her.

"You can put the food if you want right over there – there's also a fridge directly below if you'll need it." She heard him walk over and put the food close next to her, the paper crinkling as he reached inside to pick various things out. Then it was suddenly quiet and she turned her head to see him staring intently at her hair as if it was some sort of new alien lifeform.

"Oh ehm, I'm trying something new – I haven't worn it down in awhile. Why is it hideous?" she asked, biting her lip as she looked at him with wide, panicky eyes.

"No! No, I think it suits you." He assured her, hand stopping halfway to touch it–instead gripping the edge of the steel sink. Lucy's eyes followed it briefly, a little puzzled before she smiled brightly at him and nodded.

"Thank you! Now come on, I'll give you the grand tour!"

Ten minutes later and they were staring at the ash stained and ominously red chalk drawing of a pentagram on the floor behind the couch.

"…And here is the spot where they performed the last bit of failed exorcism before selling the place. Pretty neat huh?" Lucy explained, grinning.

Gru frowned in thought and nodded, crouching down on his knees to have a better look.

"What are those read smears leading towards ze closet?" he asked curiously.

"Cranberry sauce. They couldn't afford the goat, or so I'm told." She said, shrugging as they both watched the macabre stains thoughtfully.

The door buzzed. Lucy's eyebrows shot up, wondering who it could be– she just hoped it wasn't who she suspected it might be.

"I'll be right back!" she said to Gru before walking out into the hallway. When she opened the door, an old and sour looking man in black framed glasses stood there- glaring at her expectantly.

_Oh no, not him_ she thought.

"Mr. Cavendish! Good evening." She said with fake cheerfulness, hoping by some miracle that if she smiled often enough he'd drop whatever new complaint he had in mind and maybe that one day, he'd actually smile back.

This however, was not a day for miracles. Mr Cavendish simply adjusted his large glasses and answered in that flat, dry voice of his.

"Yes. Good evening." He said.

"Is there something wrong?" Of course there was. He sighed long sufferingly.

"I'm only here to remind you, that unlike some of us who value a nice, clean home – perhaps it would be a wise idea to purchase a cage for that beastly bird of yours. " he almost spat, with much venom around the word "beastly" and "bird". Lucy blinked, surprised.

"Why, Pepe isn't violent at all – he's quite tranquil and sweet."

"Be that as it may, but these "gifts" he leaves behind …."

"He takes medication for that!" she protested. Without a word, Mr. Cavendish held up his black bowler hat – which was covered in small white piles which could have been mistaken for paint, if not for the odious smell.

"Evidently my dear, it does not seem to be working well." He said, making his point quite clear. Lucy smiled sheepishly.

"Oh I'm sorry, I promise to keep a closer eye on him from now on though okay?" she said with fake cheer, discreetly trying to close the door.

"Make sure you do. Good day!"

When she'd closed the door Lucy heaved out a sigh of relief, hoping that would be the last of him for the night. Meanwhile, Gru had migrated from the living room to look at the many framed photographs she kept in the hallway close to the kitchen. There were some pictures of the jungle from her short visit in south America, a picture of her parents from when they got married – her mother looking estatic and her father looking like he was ready to shoot himself. Then there was also various pictures of Lucy as a child - hugging the tail of an alligator at the zoo, flying a kite, accidentally knocking down a chorus of children like domino tablets at a school assembly.

Lucy came back into the living room and Gru turned around to face her, absently watching the motion her hand made as she tucked a ginger lock of hair behind her ear.

"Sorry, that was just my neighbor. He's a …bit of a grouch. " She explained, emphasizing by holding her thumb and forefinger close together as if grabbing something small. Having heard some of their conversation, Gru smirked as he thought of his own habits of letting Kyle relieve himself on the neighbors rosebushes.

"Hmm, did you really not know that he'd pooped on that balcony or were you pretending?" he asked her, head tilted as he regarded her with a playful smirk on his face. Lucy blinked, seemingly surprised that he'd heard the conversation but then she chuckled quietly and shrugged.

"I'm a spy for heavens sake, acting innocent is almost a part of the job. Besides – Mr. Cavendish flowers could use a little fertilizer." she said, smirking right back at him.

Suddenly Gru felt an odd feeling in his chest, quite similar to when he hugged his girls – except this almost hurt a little, hurt wonderfully. But that couldn't be right – all that Lucy had done was smirk and talk about fertilizer. He absently run a hand over his chest, looking a little worried. _I must be ill,_ he thought.

"Hey, are you okay?" Lucy asked, eyes full of concern, splaying a hand on his shoulder.

Hm, well – whatever he had just felt, it had seemed to be very fleeting because he know felt instantly better. He blinked a few times in confusion, then shrugged. It had probably been nothing.

"Yes, I'm quite fine. Now, let's see about that dinner shall we?" he said, striding over to the kitchen.

After five failed attempts at helping Gru prepare their meal, he gently butted her to the side and made her in charge of boiling spaghetti – the easiest task he could think of. Lucy seemed endlessy fascinated by how smoothly he moved around her kitchen, artfully pouring wine into the frying pan while at the same time making sure that the grilled vegetables didn't burn.

"How did you learn how to cook anyway?" she asked, and he stopped with his back to her with the wine bottle in hand, frozen in place for a moment.

_Checkered past_, the words echoed back to him in his mind. He twisted the cork back into the bottle as he thought of how to answer her question.

"I uhhhh, learned a bit when I was staying in France." he answered a bit evasivly.

"Really? Well who taught you? Did you take a class?" Lucy asked, ever curious. He turned to look at her face, open and interested. Besides, hadn't she said that his work as a villain had been "kind of amazing"? Still, he hadn't dated a woman in years and was afraid he'd say something wrong, something too honest about himself.

"I had to team up with an old aquaintence of mine at the time, Bomb voyage? He wasn't much of a villain mind, but he did know how to cook splendid food. Before we went out on our…."gigs" together, he used to show me how to make french delicases in his kitchen." he explained, wiping his hands on a towel and casting a critical glance at the spaghetti which refused to boil because Lucy had forgotten to switch on the stove. He missed the look of absolute amazement that crossed her face. Gru glanced up at her, surprised.

"Really? That is so….COOOL!" she burst out, accidentally whipping the ladle out of the pot, splashing bits of spaghetti all over the counter.

Gru grumbled and fussed for a minute, making her work on the dessert instead (which only needed pouring and freezing) but he was smiling despite himself.

When they sat down to eat their dinner though, both parties were suddenly as bashful as school children. Maybe it was the setting of the table (both at opposite ends) or most probably, it was because neither of them had been out on a date in so long, it made them both insecure and nervous.

Then out of the quiet, the doorbell buzzed.

Yet again, it was Mr. Cavendish.

And his head was covered by at least three pair of different panties, all wet.

Lucy swallowed a strangled gasp, growing red with embarrassment. What made the matter worse was that Gru poked his head out to see what was the matter shortly after. Lucy started to break out in cold sweat, the awkward silence that followed unbearable.

"Ehehe, so that's where that trap door leads to…" she said weakly, hoping he'd find the whole matter funny. He didn't. Mr Cavendish started to shake like an angry tumble dryer, fury evident in his face.

"I don't know how, I don't think I even want to know – just take them off me and let's never mention this again. Ever." Cavendish barked out. For once, Lucy could agree wholeheartedly with him.

"You got it." was all she said, as she obliged him before shutting the door. She was just about to explain herself to Gru, who must be wondering what a strange man was doing with her underwear on his head – when she saw that he was crouching over, shaking. It took her a second to figure out that he wasn't in pain, he was quietly laughing his head off.

"Gru, it's not that funny!" she said, although she was starting to smile as she did. And the more she thought about it, the funnier it became, until she was also crouching over, clutching at his chest as she laughed so much she thought she was going to be sick. If they could have heard themselves, they would have realized how closely it sounded like borderline madness. Or partners in crime.

They finished eating their dinner, this time sitting side by side – knees touching under the table as Gru regaled her with tales of his earlier crimes, his eyes glimmering just so and his voice whispery gravel to match the tone of his storytelling. And maybe there wasn't such a thing as being too honest, or too daring – he thought as he carefully touched a lock of her hair around his finger, marveling at her blushed cheek as he did so.


	5. Chapter 5

_A "what if" drabble with Gru and Lucy meeting as children. Gru is about 9 years old and Lucy is 6. _

_(technically not a date, a prequel to the dates?) _

**1969**

The 12th of may, exactly 68 days, 23 minutes and 40 seconds before man first stepped onto the surface of the moon – Gru would meet the girl that he would some day call his wife.

This is how it happened.

The school lay quiet in the sunny afternoon and now the place was vacant. Except of course for those students who had to suffer through detention. A small, scrawny looking redhead was slouched down in a worn wooden chair – rocking back and forth on it's hind legs passivly. There was a bright blue feather tangled into her hair, and it didn't look like it had been combed since last christmas (if even then). She wore a pair of navy blue, dirty dungarees and a white tshirt with a pink pattern of spots underneath. She was missing a shoe and there was a streak of dirt across her cheek.

She looked down at the paper in front of her on her desk, wrinkled her nose and glared up at Mrs. Bell.

"Wilde, I can't hear you working?" the teacher singsonged, not looking up from her ladies magazine. Lucy tapped her foot in irritation, looked down at the paper once more and scribbled something on it quickly before standing up and handing it to mrs. Bell. She glanced up from the magazine to see what Lucy had written and gave the girl in question a small nod.

"Alright, so what have we learned today?" she asked and pinned her with a scrutinizing look.

Lucy shifted from foot to foot, glancing at the door. Then she looked back at the older woman and sighed audibly before answering.

"uhm…not to put firecrackers down the kitchen chimney?" she asked, hoping she had said the right thing.

But by the sour look on Bell's face, it wasn't.

"No dear, the OTHER thing." she muttered. Lucy thought for a moment before she answered.

"Oh, you mean the thing where I brought willy the squirrel in to share my lunch with me and he attacked amanda and snatched Billy's retainer?" she asked brightly.

"Yes, that. You realize it was wrong and you won't bring any more wild animals into the class room again?" the woman asked.

"Absolutely Mrs. Bell! You can count on me!" she nodded repeatedly, edging away towards the exit.

Mrs. Bell just sighed tiredly and waved her off.

The bell that signaled the end of the school day had rung over an hour ago, and Lucy was finally free to go. She slung the worn knapsack down from her shoulder to the ground, digging through it for her most prized possesion – her black cape. She wasn't allowed to wear it in school, so she relished to finally be able to put it on after a long day. She fastened it at the front by a small button, smiled and twirled around happily before snatching up her bag to run across the football field – making the cape billow behind her and kicking up clouds of yellow dust as she ran. She was taking the short cut across the school yard, approaching the small area of green grass, trees and bushes that came before it opened up to main street.

But just as she was running past one of the trees, a strange sight met her there.

It was a boy, a bit older than her – he was sitting there by himself, crying. He had a small cut on his cheek, and his dark clothes looked trampled and filthy. He was also strangely bald. There was a discarded box laying at his feet, torn in two large pieces. Lucy narrowed her eyes, trying to recognize him – but all that came to mind was a strange word she'd heard being whispered and yelled by other children.

_Groo-die. Groodies. _

She tugged on the edge of her cape, unsure at first of what to do. She knew it was against her villain code, but she hated seeing people cry – it made her feel very sad for them. But then again, she was never going to be a completely evil mastermind, she liked hugging and cuddling too much. She'd certainly never seen Dr. Horrible snuggle up to a teddybear while he robbed a bank. Something like determination filled her eyes, and she walked closer and crouched down in front of him- staring at the wound on his cheek. She didn't have a band aid, but she could make the blood go away. She had seen lions do this on tv, they licked each other on the cheek all the time. Just as she put a hand on his shoulder and got her face close enough to his he suddenly stopped crying , and yelped loudly when he saw her. He edged away from her a little, as if he was afraid she would – what, hurt him? She was just trying to help him! She held up her hands in the universal sign for truce, trying to calm him down.

"It's okay, I was just taking away the ouchie from your face." she said calmly, flashing him a small gaptoothed smile.

He didn't respond, and just stared at her with wide, shocked eyes. She looked down and shrugged, poking the torn box curiously – reailizing upon closer inspection that it was actually a space helmet.

"It's better if you do it with water and soap anyway, so my mama says. Is this your..helmet? Did something happen to it?" she asked him, and with plenty of stuttering he answered.

"Some…some boys they-they tore it up." he said quietly.

"What?!" she yelled, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"And then they..they kicked me." he said , on the verge of tears again.

"NO! " she halfwhispered in disbelief, because it was so unbeliably unfair.

"Yes."

Lucy looked at him with a strange twitch in her eye, and then spit at the ground before looking around them -as if the perpetrators were still around. Then she started running around him in circles, growling like an angry puppy before falling to her knees – fisting her hands in the grass. The boy did not know what to make of this strange display, and simply stared as the girl threw a fit on his behalf. She wrapped the cape around her shouldes more snugly.

"That is truly desp….despibbable. " she muttered, lisping.

"Despicable?" he offered timidly, and she nodded.

"These events will not go unpunished friend, mark my words." she said in a strange, eerie voice which he thought he recognized from something scary he had watched with his mother on tv. He had covered his eyes during most of it, but that didn't mean he couldn't hear anything.

Then he took a moment and wondered at calling him her "friend" but the girl seemed too busy being angry over the whole thing to really notice that. Then she stood up, looked at him over her shoulder before turning around to cover half of her face with the cape.

"What is your name oh spacetraveler? " she asked him, trying to make her voice go lower, but instead she sounded like she just had a bad cold.

"It's- my name is Gru." Her eyebrows rose from behind the cape, breaking out of the villanous charade.

"Gru?" she asked with something like disbelief.

"F-Felonious Gru." he added, almost flinching when she bowed a little before him.

"And I'm Lucy. Not the one that everyone loves, I'm the one who drinks blood for breakfast and feasts upon the misery of my enemies." she said happily, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Oh." He managed, not knowing quite what to say to this strange girl. As she straightened up from her bow, she looked over at the helmet and twisted her mouth, looking displeased. Then out of nowhere she firmly grabbed a hold of his hand, taking his helmet in the other.

"Where- what are you-" he stuttered, unsure.

"I will fix these things, come to my lair and all will be well." she exclaimed dramatically as they walked hand in hand down the street, Gru stumbling after her.

The lair turned out to be an empty doghouse in her backyard. After they'd settled down halfway inside it, Lucy looked around with wide eyes as if someone might be listening before turning to Gru with a secretive look in her eyes.

"My mom doesn't know we are here, it is a secret place." she stage whispered.

"Oh, Okay." he whispered back, why though he didn't know. There was a poster taped to the wall inside, and she plastered her upper body to it, looking at it with adoration.

"What is that?" he asked, and Lucy pointed to it and eagerly explained.

"See this poster, these are the thunderbirds. They are important – I like the green ship the always make things go BOOM wherever they go. I want to make things go boom one day." she said, staring out into space with a wistful expression on her face. Then her eyes widened as if she just rememberd something, before diving straight for her backpack.

She dug around in it and after a few seconds held up a roll of duct tape trioumphantly. After Gru had positioned the helmet the way it was before, Lucy carefully taped it together again with the tape. When she was finished she handed it over with a grand flourish. He slowly took it from her hands, turning it over and a shy smile blossomed on his face.

"Thank you Lucy." he said earnestly, his cheeks turning a bit pink. She smiled and nodded.

"Here, do you want half of my sandwhich? It's peanutbutter and jelly, I think I sat on it during recess but it's good." she asked, holding it out to him – the other half already in her mouth. He took it gingerly from her hand, sniffing at it carefully before taking a small bite. She had been right, it was very good!

She then tried to lick his cheek again, but Gru was too fast and jumped away like a frightened rabbit and so lucy gave up.

"Here, I have to show you! " she climbed into the dog house on all fours, digging around for awhile before emerging with a steel lunchbox with dracula on the front and back. She opened it and inside was a collection of collectible horror cards, likes of which he had seen plenty of times at the magazine stands in town. His mother never bought any for him, so it was a rare treat to see so many at the same place all at once. His eyes practically glowed as he stared at them, as if they were looking down upon a chest containing precious jewels. Abruptly, Lucy tilted the box upside down – emptying its contents on their laps.

"Let's look at all of them together!" she practically screamed in excitement, but Gru didn't mind it all that much, smiling as he picked up card after card.

"You can have some if you want, some of them are doubles." she said after awhile, cradling a card of Vincent Price in her hands, stroking it almost lovingly. He looked up and stared at her hopefully, and with a hint of disbelief.

"Really?" he asked. She got really close up to his face and nodded avidly, clutching some of the cards to her chest.

"Yeah! You have seen my secret lair and we have partaken in a feast, what kind of friend would I be if we didn't also share some of the bounty?" she asked, going back to stare at the cards and putting them in a strange order only she knew the rhyme and reason of. Gru looked down at the cards also, but quickly glanced at her face again.

"And….you're my friend?" he asked her, scared but hopeful. Lucy grinned and bumped his shoulder with her own, but otherwise didn't make a big deal out of this. But to Gru, it was.

"Silly, of course I am! And now that we are two in charge of the lair, you get to be my partner when we take over the earth. " she said, and then after a moment Gru gave her a bright smile and nodded.

"I think I'd like that."

Two hours later, they were busy arranging the cards after which monster and villains they would like as their henchmen the most when Lucy's mother called her in for dinner, and Gru realized that he had to get going too. But just as he was walking away from her house and on to his own, Lucy came running around the corner.

"Wait, I forgot to give you this! " she said, thrusting a blue toy whistle into his hand. He blinked at it, turning it around in his palm

"What is this?" he asked her.

"It's our secret signal, I have one too see? " she said, pulling out a matching blue toy whistle fron under her shirt. "We have to blow in it when – when we need to plan nefarious deeds. Also if the other is in trouble, because then we can get each other out of imprisonment or foul torture." she explained, toying with the chain around her neck. Gru thought it sounded like a good idea, and so he nodded. But then he thought of the bigger boys at school, and he was afraid.

"But what if you won't hear it?" he asked her in a small voice. She surprised him by grabbing a hold of his arm, tugging on it as she looked at him with earnest.

"Oh but I will, I'll hear it. My momma says my hearing is so good, her and daddy have to share their special kiss in the basement." she assured him, and while he had no idea what a "special kiss" was – he suddenly felt sure that she would hear him.

"LUCY! Come on in here and eat your dinner before it gets cold missy!" her mother yelled from inside, making them both jump.

"I gotta go, but I'll see you at school – tomorrow! I'll make my mother pack brownies, do you like brownies? " she asked him, looking eager.

Gru nodded, eyes bright and happy.

"LUCY!" her mother nearly screamed, and Lucy sagged a little and groaned. Then she shrugged and started running inside, waving at Gru as she did.

"See you in the land of tomorrow!" she yelled.

Gru timidly waved after her, then continued to smile all the way home. When he got home, his mother asked him what he was so darn perky about – but he wouldn't say. Instead he glanced down at his backpack, where he now kept the blue whistle.

"Nothing special." he'd said, shrugging his shoulders – but the warm smile on his face and the twinkle in his eyes said otherwise.


End file.
